Most affiliate marketers are aware of ClickBank (clickbanks). And most affiliate marketers have at least attempted to make money with ClickBank. In fact, many of their vendors and affiliates have become millionaires.
ClickBank is a global e-commerce platform that was started in 1998. Its growth since that time has been phenomenal.
If you are considering trying to make money with ClickBank, there are both pros and cons to consider.
One reason to consider becoming an affiliate is that ClickBank has been around since 1998. Like everything else online, not all affiliate platforms that have launched have been successful. Some (like ClickBank, WarriorPlus, and JVZoo) have been around for years and are generally considered quality platforms by both vendors and affiliates.
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ClickBank is a reputable platform that has never missed a payout in over 20 years. So, you’re safe with them and you’ll receive your commissions like clockwork. You’ll need to decide if you want to be paid by checks, direct deposit or wire payments.
NOTE: ClickBank is sometimes searched in Google using the term “clickbanks”. I have no idea why this is. If you care to shed any light on this issue, please use the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you!
Another reason to consider ClickBank is the wide variety of products available to promote. While most of the products on ClickBank are of a digital nature, the products span a wide variety of niches ranging from weight loss to survival to gardening and more. Recently, they’ve allowed physical products such as health supplements to be sold on their platform. Many vendors and affiliates are raking in serious cash with these physical products.
Unlike Amazon which offers its associates (affiliates) a paltry 4% to 5% commission on most products, most ClickBank vendors will pay you anywhere from 50% to even 100% a sale. So, if you want to make money with ClickBank, this makes promoting their selection a very lucrative opportunity. Of course, Amazon is a sales machine that’s designed to sell. It’s trusted and it’s fairly simple to convert visitors into customers on this trusted platform.
Promoting digital products can be more difficult than promoting physical products. Sometimes the visitors will require even more information. In general, ClickBank vendors are not as sophisticated as those on Amazon. So, you might need to create your own landing page, add visitors to your email list with a reputable autoresponder (Click Here for my free report), and have an email marketing campaign in place to persuade visitors to purchase the Clickbank product that you are promoting. Sometimes it’s a bit more work, but the financial rewards are generally worth the extra effort.
It is very easy to become an affiliate on ClickBank. Once you create an account, you’ll be able to get your affiliate links and start promoting the products right away. Of course, with lower barriers of entry comes increased competition. This is a double-edged sword. Some of the more popular products may require vendor approval. So you’ll need to contact the vendor and tell them why and how you wish to promote their products.
It’s also important to know that not all products are equal on ClickBank. There are many excellent products . . . but also just as many stinkers. This downside is to be expected since thousands of products are listed on this platform.
It’s not uncommon to find products with bold claims, empty promises and blatant hyperbole. All designed to hook the customers in and get them to part with their money while delivering a product that does not deliver on its promises.
As an affiliate, you will need to be diligent in your evaluation of the products you choose to promote. Ideally, you’ll want to purchase the product and go through it before promoting it. You’ll be able to promote the product more convincingly if you know what it’s all about, instead of blindly hyping it up.
Many affiliates love ClickBank because it’s highly convenient. The platform tracks your sales, monitors refunds and chargebacks, and sends you your commissions on auto-pilot.
It’s a hands-off process for the affiliate who can just focus on the marketing and promotions. While ClickBank’s tracking is reasonably good, you’ll also want to use a tool like ClickMagick for better and more insightful tracking.
You’re also provided stats such as the earnings per sale, conversion rate, gravity, recurring billing and more. With these stats, you’ll be able to ascertain if a product is worth promoting or not.
That said, one minor downside here is that the ‘gravity’ stats can be a little misleading. Very often, affiliates only wish to promote products with a high gravity. They often fail to realize that there’s intense competition when promoting these top sellers.
Furthermore, you’ll often find products on pages 4-7 with a lower gravity, and may be tempted to dismiss them. However, these products buried in the deeper pages were usually top sellers some time back.
Just because they have a lower gravity now doesn’t mean that the product isn’t good or sellable. It just means that affiliates have stopped promoting them, and so their rankings dropped.
These former ‘top sellers’ usually still have legs and you’ll be able to get a lot of sales from them while dealing with less competition. Give them a chance and see if you are able to successfully promote them.
My advice? Do your research and find great products that you feel good about promoting.
While there are many reasons why you should become a ClickBank affiliate, it’s important to be aware of a few downsides.
One downside here is that the search feature in ClickBank could be improved. Navigating through all the products can be time-consuming and a hassle.
Also, all products on ClickBank need to have a money-back guarantee. While this helps to improve conversions, it also means that people who want something for nothing will purchase the product and request a refund without missing a beat.
Since the products are often digital in nature, it’s easier for them because they don’t (and can’t) need to return the product. As an affiliate, your commissions may decrease due to chargebacks and refunds.
OK, so that happens sometimes (probably on Amazon, too).
If you’re a successful affiliate with an active account and making sales daily, their fees should not be an issue for you. However, if you’re still a beginner and making an odd sale here and there, you may end up paying fees if your account is dormant.
So, even if you have a positive balance in your account but you’ve not made sales in 90 days, ClickBank will deem your account dormant and deduct $1 every single day. After that, it becomes $5 per pay period and goes up to $50.
You just might have commissions in there that are reduced to $0. That may make you balk… and it’s understandable. But it’s part of the game.
You’ll want to set a lower payment threshold when you’re starting out and try to become a proficient affiliate as soon as you can.
So, what to do? Easy. Simply promote products and make sales daily. After all, your goal is to make money with ClickBank. Gotta make sales to accomplish that goal.
I encourage you at least seriously consider becoming a ClickBank (clickbanks) affiliate.
Physical products and digital products are not mutually exclusive. You can promote both of them on your niche sites, YouTube channels and so on. There are lots of products to choose from on ClickBank. With the high commission rates, even 3-5 sales a day may mean an extra $1k to $3k in monthly earnings for you.
If that sounds encouraging, sign up for a ClickBank account and use the resources on RadBiz to learn how to master affiliate marketing.
I wish you well.
Mike
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Tell me again, who is Mike Howell?
I am a seniorpreneur who shares affiliate links as a money-making hobby.
I take great pride in being a trusted and respected member of the Internet business community.
My mission is to help YOU learn to share affiliate links as a money-making hobby!
The focus of RadBiz is to help YOU learn how to make $500 to $1,000 each month by sharing links as an affiliate marketer.
Once you learn how to do that, you might want to scale your efforts and begin to earn more than $500 to $1,000 each month.
Or maybe not.
It’s your life. It’s your choice. Do what’s best for you.
Of course, I cannot guarantee (express or implied) that you will make money or that you will not lose money.
However, I can guarantee that RadBiz will continue to provide ideas to help you along your IM journey.
Just a reminder . . .
It costs me some time and a small amount of money to provide quality info for you. So, when you click an affiliate link on RadBiz.com, I may earn some coffee money or I may benefit in some other manner (both at no additional cost to you).
Yup, that’s how affiliate marketing works!
Please feel free to comment below. I am sincerely interested in what you are thinking!
Again, I wish you well.
Mike Howell
RadBiz.com